The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group works to help people whose rights have been violated and investigates cases involving such abuse, as well as assessing the overall human rights situation in Ukraine. The Group also seeks to develop awareness of human rights issues through public events and its various publications

Kremlin-backed militants in Donetsk have released the hostages taken when they who seized the Evening Light Christian Rehabilitation Centre. The head of the centre, his assistant and 27 people receiving help at the Centre appear to have been held in a basement, without receiving medical care.

On Tuesday Pastor Sergey Kosyak reported on his Facebook page that the wives, children and other relatives of the people in the Centre, grasping at any last hope, had turned with Pastor Sergey to the Donetsk Executive Committee, the only body of power now functioning. There they contacted the head of the Donetsk police who promised to help.

The people at the rehabilitation centre are ill and in need of daily medication. They were released finally on Wednesday afternoon, without any major harm having been done physically. The psychological impact is likely to have been grave, and Pastor Sergey says that all the people in the centre are now leaving Donetsk.